Main menu

Financing Electric Car Racing Is Pushing EVs To The Public

Enzo Ferrari was right, race on Sunday, sell on Monday. And nothing could be more true to make the case for the relevance of the electric drive as it advances onto our every day cars.

Advertisement

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

If you race it, they will buy it. If they see it raced, they will want it, at least so goes the logic behind. Nowhere has this been more prevalent than in Europe in the early 1930s when Bugatti and Alfa Romeo dominated the racing scene. They were exotics, high performance cars and anyone who could afford them, had to have one. Nowhere was it more proven when Ferrari, despite a World War II torn country, built an empire by racing his prancing horse cars. You race them, they will want them, it’s that simple.

Racing EVs. Electric cars and electric motorcycles have been raced for some time now, and the last few years have brought more and more attention to their outstanding results. From the TTXGP to the budding electric EVCup racing series, it seems manufacturers and developers understand the importance of racing a new technology. It not only tests it in real life scenario, it also makes it visible. You need to race EVs to get people excited.

Financing The Electric Racing World. Case in point, Kemet Corporation who manufactures tantalum, ceramic, aluminum, film, paper and electrolytic capacitors, announced it would continue to sponsor the TUfast e-Technology Racing Team from the Technical University of Munich for its 2012 racing season. This is great news, and pushes forward the electric vehicle momentum.

The budding 2012 Formula Student Electric Competition is still a grass root movement. Yet all the great races we follow today started as little local events, to eventually become international crowd gatherers. You have to start somewhere and this is as good as anywhere.

Technically Speaking. By manufacturing DC link film capacitors, the company can provide technical expertise in electric vehicle energy conversion and supply all capacitance solutions required for the project, while furthering the development of the technology. According to Dr. Philip Lessner, KEMET Vice President, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Scientist: "After such a successful 2011 racing season, KEMET is pleased to increase our collaboration with some of the most outstanding and committed engineering students at one of Germany's finest universities,"…"Our sponsorship of the TUfast program reinforces KEMET's continued commitment to electric/hybrid vehicle and green energy technologies, along with fostering the next generation of innovation in the automotive and alternative energy industries."

TUfast e-Technology Racing Team. The team is made up of about 30 students from different areas and expertise, all studying at the Technical University of Munich. The team aims to design and build the best possible Formula Student Electric race car every year. According to last season, it is on track to achieving this as it won nearly every dynamic discipline at least once at races in Germany, Austria and Italy.

Formalizing Electric Car Racing. Electric car competition formalized itself back in 2010 when the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE’s International Formula SAE competition for combustion engines decided it needed to create an electric racing version. Developed to adhere to the strict Formula SAE rules, this allows these EVs to compete in Formula SAE races worldwide.

NEDRA & Electric Drag Racing. Michael at SSI-Racing has been drag racing for some time now, before EVs starting popping up here and there. See my story here; Electric SSI-Racing Challenges Drag Racing And EV Kits. NEDRA is the National Electric Drag Racing Association, a specialized chapter of the Electric Auto Association that works on increasing public awareness of EV performance and encourages competition, advances in electric vehicle technology.

EV Cup. EV Cup hails itself as the world’s first circuit race series exclusively featuring zero-emission electric vehicles, providing the platform for sustainable motorsports. . It aims to achieve the same goals via a few types of races ranging from urban EVs, to sports to prototypes. All good venues to further develop endurance and overall technology.

All of this still points to the old adage that what you race on Sunday, sells on Monday. In this case, as we witness more and more electric vehicle races, it will make them become a clearer reality in the mind of the public.